Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Manpower (MAN) found out in a recent survey they conducted, that of 28,000 businesses around the world, only 21 percent have developed and put into action strategies to retain senior employees.

I'm not sure if some industries think this is something still far off, or that it won't have an impact on their business, but this is not the way to handle this very real challenge.

Media Post says that already "Several industries, including electric utilities, oil and gas production, healthcare and the public sector, are already feeling the effects of baby boomer retirements."

No matter what size business we own, most of this wouldn't be that hard to develop and implement. A small business could simply ask and communicate to senior employees about their plans and needs, and what they would require to stay working at the company in some capacity.

When I was managing one company, our senior people had certain priorities that spanned across many areas. Some, for example, wanted to work more on a part-time, seasonal basis. Others had to have certain days off or they weren't interested ... and the list goes on.

The one thing that has been interesting in my experience, is every one of them had very specific requirements that had to be met to even consider continuing working with the company. What was important to see was those that did stay, were very happy with being able to work under the conditions they needed.

They were very happy and productive workers because they still felt important and the company cared enough to meet their wants and needs. They were among our best workers because of the good will and appreciation coming from communicating with and responding to them.

I don't see this as a huge challenge, it's a matter of getting it done. But to have almost 80 percent of companies around the world not focusing on and implementing plans to deal with this, is extraordinary to me. We can't hide from this reality, it's past time to be taking measures to address this challenge that is already upon us.